Chapter 1
Princess Gwenalot awoke from her nap, stretching and knocking over her metal helmet with a clang, making some random critters skitter away. She looked around and gasped as she saw a cloud of mist in the air. She jumped up and it appeared again, right in front of her face. She rubbed her eyes and realized that it was her breath fogging in the cold tunnel.
She looked around for some mushrooms to eat, but she soon heard strumming of some stringed instrument farther down in the tunnel. The Princess wrapped herself in her cape, plopped her helmet on her head, and walked down the tunnel to see the source off the music.
In a rather large cave, a lone Fraggle with slicked-back black hair and blue-green skin sat on a large boulder, balancing precariously on a pillar of loose rocks. He had a rough deep voice as he sang:
Well, if your baby leaves you,
and you got a tale to tell.
Just take a walk down lonely street
to Heartbreak Hotel.
You'll be so lonely baby,
your gonna be lonely,
you'll be so lonely you could die.
Oh although it's always crowded,
you still can find some room.
For broken hearted lovers to cry away their gloom.
They've been so lonely baby, well they're so lonely,
they're so lonely they could die….
Princess Gwenalot tightened the cape around her as she approached the singer. She looked up, her voice still rather dazed from sleeping for so long. "Crooner? What are you doing here?"
Crooner's face brightened and he leapt off the boulder, nearly making it crash to the cave floor. He dusted himself off and smiled as widely as he could. "Gwenelyn!"
"Gwenalot."
Crooner tilted his head in confusion. He smiled again though and patted her strongly on her back. "Hey, you know what, Baby? If you're goin' undercover, you gotta come up with a better alias than that." He walked over to a flowing white robe that was sparkling with glitter. He winked at her. "I heard you were comin' over to Blue Rock. I wanted to help you out before you got there."
"Thanks, but --."
"No," he replied, shaking his head, "don't thank me! That Rock will make you see what you fear most – and I already know what you fear most, baby girl."
Princess Gwenalot sighed and rubbed her snout in frustration. Her voice sounded resigned, "I thought a sacred Minstrel would keep his mind on singing."
Crooner chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, gently blowing her hair from her face. He told her softly, with a smirk, "Now you know song-writin' is more effective when you've experienced it firsthand…."
She pushed him away and kicked a pebble, keeping her eyes downcast. "Then get used to singing that song you just sung," she retorted, frowning. "I'm a Princess. You're a sacred Minstrel --."
"There's sacredness all around us, Gwen … alot," he replied with a hurt, quiet tone. "I don't intend to just sing about life … I want to enjoy it, too." He sadly plucked some strings of his guitar and sighed, keeping his eyes downcast. "You make me happy each time I see you." He looked up at her, his eyes pleading. "In fact, you're the reason my heart can sing."
Princess Gwenalot looked away, biting her lip. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I know, I know," she replied sadly, nodding. "I'm your inspiration and your glory." She finally found the courage to glance at the Minstrel. "Still, I take my job seriously. You should take yours seriously, too." Before he could respond, she held her hand up. "Please, Crooner, I told my magic mirror you'd go help her while I'm on my journey. If you need to give companionship to anyone, give it to her … she actually is lonely."
Crooner looked on as his Princess walked away, not looking back. "Ouch," he whispered to himself.
Author's Note: although it seems like I'm playing with continuity (well, I am, but still…), if you recall, Fraggles who had hair was banished ("better bald than banished!") … so Gwenalot and other Fraggles can still have hair while Fishface is around. Also, Crooner is going to sing Elvis songs (though not a lot). I personally can't stand Elvis, but his style fits well with Crooner's needs.